In other news, I will be changing the format from more formal, traditional lesson plans to tutorials. I just cannot keep up with the lesson plans and this way I can still put up pictures of student work and share ideas for creative reuse but be slightly less exhausted. This summer I will go back and categorize all the projects by material type, which might make it easier for people who are searching for creative reuse suggestions.

Thank you to Mt. Scott Fuel for contributing gravel and soil to fill our planter boxes we made to celebrate earth day, and to Seven Dees Landscaping for donating grass seed for our upcoming seed heads!

Creative Reuse Lesson Plan    Second grade: Letter Writing

Written by Keri Piehl for SCRAP /Whitman ES 2009-10

Printed note cards

Cost per student: $.20 (brayers can be used forever, though)

Materials: Brayers, foam trays, ballpoint pens, pencils, scratch paper, paper or cardstock to print onto, plastic lids or trays, acrylic paint or printing ink (like Speedball), newspapers, clean wet cloths.

Students will design an image and make multiple prints using traditional block printing techniques.

Elements of art: Line, texture, value

Vocabulary: printing, brayer

1. Discuss the concept of printing in art – it is a way to make one or more copies of a drawing, design, etc. Show examples from an art book and discuss ways students may have made a print – with stamps, simply by layering paint and rubbing another paper across it, making a computer design and being able to print multiple copies, etc.

2. Explain that they are going to make a set of note cards using the same design. I handed out ½ sheets of used-on-one-side copy paper and had them sketch a design that they thought would make a cheerful note card. We talked about drawing big, not adding too many crammed details, and not coloring in anything solidly – add texture or implied darkness by crosshatching, stippling, etc. When students had satisfactory drawings, we got out the pieces of Styrofoam trays.

3. I cut clean Styrofoam trays in half, to avoid kids having the company mark in the middle of their design (and make the trays go farther). I cut off the curved edges so they had flat pieces with a textured side and a smooth side. On the smooth side, I showed them how to use a ballpoint pen to created indented lines for their design. They can just draw right onto the Styrofoam, taking care not to push too hard or they’ll put holes in it. It’s tricky to push hard enough to create deep channels that won’t fill up easily with ink, some kids might need to go back over their design before printing.

4.Have the kids fold 3 sheets of  paper in half to serve as their note cards (cardstock would be nice) and write their names on them now so they won’t need too once they get involved with paint.

I covered a few tables with newspaper, and laid out trays (small Rubbermaid lids someone was going to throw out). I put a small amount of acrylic paint on each tray; putting 2 complementary colors side by side gives a neat effect when partially blended. Show the students how to gently roll the brayer across the tray, inking the brayer thoroughly. Then lay the Styrofoam printing plate flat on the table, and ink it with the brayer.

5. Make sure the folded note card is nearby on the table, and lay the inked side of the Styrofoam tray onto the blank card. Give a gentle rub and pull it back. Re-ink and repeat until all note cards are printed. Put the note cards and printing plate out to dry! You may need to blot or rinse the printing plate if you are drastically switching colors; I didn’t worry about it and just let the kids ink new colors and the results were pretty cool.

Creative Reuse Lesson Plan         First Grade: Families

Written by Keri Piehl for SCRAP /Whitman ES 2009-10

Hand Print Mural

Cost per student: $.10 (not including the use of an iron)

Materials: Iron, fabric (I found a giant appliquéd globe on a sheet in the trash), fabric crayons, paper, markers, newspaper or towel to iron on top of.

Students will create an individual design to contribute to the whole group mural

Elements of art: shape, space

Vocabulary: mural, family, humankind

1. We looked at a book showing different families around the world; we talked about that everyone is part of a human family called human kind. I tied this in to the recent news of the earthquake in Haiti – when something hurts people anywhere in the world, other people try and help them. We talked about how people in different countries helped people who were hurting in Haiti and other places. We also talked about adoption and how families might have kids they adopted from other countries; any humans put together can make a new family anywhere.

2. I talked about how a mural is often an art piece where many people can work together to put their art into one place to show how a community is connected. I showed them the large blank mural base with the globe and suggested they all make a design to add to it.

3. For a design that looked somewhat unified, I had all kids trace their hands with a pencil and then had them go over the line with a fabric crayon. I told them they could color and design their hand shape any way they liked but it could not have letters or numbers (since they would be backwards once they get ironed to the fabric). Coloring it in thickly looks best.

4. As kids finished, I invited them over to the carpet area, where I had the iron plugged in and a thick section of newspaper to put under the fabric. Put the drawing colored side down on the fabric, put another piece of paper on top, and iron on high with no steam. Try not to move the paper or the design will look blurry.

5. I like to let the kid peel the paper back to reveal the transferred design after I move the iron out of reach. Have them use a marker to sign their name near their design if you’d like. I had all 3 third grade classes, plus the teachers, add to the mural. They can take their design on paper home.